HKUST Annual Report 2024-2025

36 HKUST ANNUAL REPORT 2024-25 Mapping Sulfate in Groundwater Spotlights Public Health Risks Prof. CHEN Guanghao (Civil and Environmental Engineering) and his team introduced the world’s first high-resolution global groundwater sulfate distribution map, which reveals public health risks including the finding that approximately 17 million people are at risk of gastrointestinal problems due to excessive sulfate levels in groundwater. As the first of its kind, the one-kilometer resolution map serves as a practical tool for water quality assessment. It highlights sulfate-excessive hotspots and identifies key contributing factors, such as environmental elements like precipitation patterns and sedimentary geology, as well as human activities, for example, the application of fertilizers and mining operations. BUSINESS Study Investigates “Surprise Clearance” Business Model on Food Waste Apps Prof. YU Man (Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management) and her co-author investigated the “surprise clearance” model, where customers purchase surprise bags of unsold food at a discounted price, as an innovative business model to increase store profit and reduce food waste. Their findings showed that while it achieves higher store profit compared to traditional clearance sales or no clearance, it also generates the highest level of consumer waste and, in certain circumstances, the highest total waste among the three clearance schemes, suggesting that this approach is not always beneficial for combating food waste. The research received the Best Problem-Driven Analytical Research Paper award at the Decision Sciences Institute’s 2024 Annual Conference. Exploring the Appeal of “Want” vs “Need” to Online Funders Prof. Jaideep SENGUPTA (Marketing) and co-authors used a crowdfunding context to examine when and why using “want” versus “need” in appeals affects funders’ decisions for contributions. Results from observational studies and experiments supported their predictions that a “want” frame is more effective in reward-based crowdfunding, while a “need” frame is more effective in donation-based crowdfunding. The studies also illuminated the psychological mechanisms underlying these opposing effects. These findings contribute to the literature on semantic framing and crowdfunding and also offer practical implications for fundraisers, marketers, and policymakers.